Anne-Sophie is a French photographer currently based in Belgium whose works revolve around topics such as memory and identity. The series presented here focus on identity and appearances, portraying androgynous people in a very minimalist style in oder to question the dichotomy of gender and the roles that society assigns to each sex.

Avoiding distractions and focusing completely on the subjects, this project also raises questions about the importance of the appearance in our current society and self projections.

Following we want to present an interview we had with the artist:

am - First of all thank you very much for your contribution to our project. Can you please introduce yourself for us?

ASG - Well, to start I am a French photographer born in the UK, living and working in Belgium. I did a MFA at the Royal Academy of fine arts in Brussels, BE.

am - How did you start in photography?

ASG - I started photography not so long before I started my studies at the academy.

am - What inspires your work?

ASG - I believe that my everyday life along with my readings and some visual artists such as David Claerbout, Elina Brotherus, Marc Trivier, Richard Long do inspire my work at the moment.

am - What is “Inner Self” about?

ASG - It is a series of portraits of androgynous. The one-on-ones with my models reflect my interest in issues relating to identity and its construction. Having first been explored within my own family through previous works, the notion of identification continues throughout the series of portraits entitled ‘Inner Self’, this time in anonymity. The portraits raise doubt on the model’s genre, sometimes leading to hesitation, reflecting the fact that the image of an individual may not reflect their inner being and may possibly evade them, while it may also represent the fruits of a codified and voluntary creation. The one-to-one that I present invites us to fully educate ourselves on the role, even the importance, of appearances in our relation to each other as much as to ourselves.

am - Who are your favourite photographers / artists?

ASG - I don’t really have a mentor, but I really like Rineke Dijkstra’s portraits.

am - How would you describe your photographs in 3 words?

ASG - Distance, neutral, complicity.

am - If you could travel and stay in a place for one year, where would you choose to go?

ASG - Japan, probably, on one of its small islands.

am - What are you reading at the moment?

ASG - "Du silence" by David Le Breton.

am - Do you have any project in mind that could be a personal or professional challenge?

ASG - I am currently preparing myself to go on a two month residency in Japan in August and September. I am really looking forward to it.

am - Thank you very much for your time and contribution to analog magazine.